Andrew and I woke to the pattering of rain drops in our hostel courtyard. It was a melodic, soothing start to the day. Our spirits soared when the skies cleared by breakfast time promising a beautiful day for our first adventure. Originally, our plan was to take the bullet train to Tianjin for the day. I wasn’t sure how much walking Andrew would be able to do so I played it safe and decided to stay in Beijing. Andrew was interested in the Beijing Zoo. We set out, slowly.
Andrew and I had just exited the hutong (a traditional neighborhood) when I realized that I had left my phone in our room. Returning to retrieve it would have meant that Andrew would have had to add extra steps and I was already worried about how he would survive the day without a wheelchair. It was a war of the thoughts for quite some time. I finally decided to leave the phone behind and hope that my memory matched the Chinese street signs. It was a hard decision because I really wanted the Maps.me app that I downloaded to take the place of censored Google Maps. Little did I know that I was well on my way to learning that mistakes can cause blessings.
Mistakes Can Cause Blessings
It wasn’t long before I realized we were lost. I consider losing my way an adventure – unless it’s Friday night in Cancun, Mexico ( But we’ll save that for another post). However, to save time, I did what all self-respecting females would do. I promptly asked for directions. I chose a uniform-clad Chinese official, (all uniformed personnel are good at directions, right?) who turned my map in various directions, looked at the sky, rubbed his chin and used his finger to follow the streets on the map, pointed in a few more directions and then called over a friend who pretty much did the same thing.
Before I knew it, I had at least eight friendly, very helpful Chinese people talking to each other, fingers pointing in various directions, everyone having their look at the map and turning it in the direction they felt was most helpful. I think it was somewhere along person number four when I knew I was in trouble. Finally, an English-speaking motorcyclist stopped to see what the hubbub was about. He gave me directions, which seemed backwards from my map. I graciously thanked him, took my map and went my own way – which was the wrong way…
Wangfujing Street
Andrew and I ended up on Wangfujing street, a famous, pedestrianized shopping area. Andrew was thrilled to see a McDonald’s sign and a menu written in Chinese characters and pictures. At home we rarely, if ever, eat fast food, but I fully appreciated his excitement and we ordered a bubble tea. I have no idea what kind we ordered. It was bitter and while I didn’t care for it, Andrew sucked his down and wanted mine. Gotta love Prader-Willi syndrome.
Andrew was uncomplaining but he was moving slow and I knew he was hurting. We took our time walking and rested every hundred feet. We did satellite trips into various stores after each rest. Our favorite was a large bookstore, where we purchased gifts to bring home.
Street Shows
During one of our rest-stops, we watched an incredible musical, water show. I kept noticing groups of about 8-10 shield-totting, uniform clad police officers parading behind a female attendant. I’m not sure how the female leader fit into the scheme of things but the officers looked very militaristic and rather daunting as they marched in and around the shoppers. With a lot of pomp and circumstance they would follow their leader and return to their flashing-light bus and line up like soldiers. From what I could tell, they would board their bus, drive to a different part of the street, and start over. Their presence seemed to be largely ignored. I wasn’t sure if I could photograph them, so opted not to. I’ve no idea what they were about, but they were as entertaining as the water show.
Prader-Willi syndrome Paradise
Quite by accident, Andrew and I stumbled upon a snack street located in a local hutong, just off of Wangfujing Street. The narrow streets were full of restaurants and food vendors. We were enthralled by the exotic smells and colors. Ha! Let me rephrase that. Andrew was all eyes and overcome with ecstatic excitement as he stood in the center of a very densely packed street overloaded with every type of food possible. Land sakes. Figures I’d end up in Prader-Willi paradise! “I” was specifically looking at everything that I didn’t have a name for so I made a pact with Andrew. We would both choose five items that we didn’t recognize and we would share half of our choices with each other.
Andrew is not afraid to try new foods when traveling!
Andrew and I both enjoyed tasting and trying to determine what kind of food we had purchased. The fact that Andrew was not afraid to try something he didn’t recognize was awesome! The vendors sold everything imaginable. Delectables with eyes and claws wrapped in newspaper, candy on a stick, jellies wrapped in edible rice wrappers, sticks of candied scorpions, sea horses, critters that had heads, bulging eyes and legs. It was fascinating, mostly yummy, and crunchy.
Time to Find a Wheelchair
Our walk back to the hotel took f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Andrew needed to sit down at every block to rest. He remained determined and uncomplaining albeit I knew he was ‘really’ hurting.
My biggest worry was how Andrew would feel the following day and what meltdowns this exhausting day might create. I also knew that there was no way we were going to cover the city at this slow rate. I decided at that moment that we needed a wheelchair and I was going to do my best to find or buy one.
Mistakes Can Cause Blessings
Later, that evening during dinner, a fellow backpacker gave a full, graphic description of the depressed conditions at the zoo was and how the visitors were banging on the exhibit windows with glass bottles. We deemed ourselves lucky to have gotten lost. Take the zoo off the must-see list. Mistakes can cause blessings, and getting lost turned into one big true blessing!
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